Card Mistress
by Sylmarien
Summary: Syaoran Li is sent to Tomoeda to discover the reason for the awakening of the Clow Cards, however other players are also entering the game and the new Card Mistress is not at all what he expects. BEING REWRITTEN, NOT UPDATING TILL THEN.
1. Entrance

**Disclaimer: No Cardcaptors doesn't have anything to do with me, I simple stole the characters and put them in my story. Aside from that as a heads up, I've taken a few liberties with the cards powers in order to make some things work and I've also stolen a few elements of Tsubasa –Fei Wong, Yuuko etc, you'll know it when you see it.**

"…..And then you multiply equation A by 3 and equation B by 4 so that the numerators of X are the same and then subtract equation A from B…" the lecturer droned on but half the class wasn't listening. It was the middle of summer and it was far too hot to try and think about anything but finding someway of keeping cool.

Sakura struggled valiantly to stay focused and awake but the heat was slowly getting to her. The building they were in was newly built and not everything was working as it should, the lights sometimes flicked on and off and the air conditioning would sometimes switch abruptly from cold to hot or vice versa. This morning it had turned from cold to hot in the middle of a lecture –half the class had almost fainted before someone figured out what had happened and turned it off. As a result the room, filled with 100 warm bodies and with only a few windows up near the ceiling, was now stifling in the afternoon heat of summer.

Sakura's head dropped lower and lower until it finally rested on the desk and she fell asleep. Beside her Madison, who was slightly better off with her chilled water bottle and paper fan smiled lightly and jotted down some more notes so her friend could copy them later. Meanwhile, oblivious to the world around her Sakura dreamed of the past.

"_You can't beat Raijuu with Windy! Use something else!...The Power Card likes games!...Don't stop thinking you have to find a way out, Maze will trap you forever if you don't!... Wait! You can't combine two attack cards you don't know what might happen!" Phantom words called out to her in the midst of fear and confusion. Phantom hands held hers on the staff "Don't give up! I'm a descendant of Clow, let me help you, you can do this! Now, transform them and break his spell!" _

Sakura shifted but kept sleeping. _"Who are you?" she asked her dream, yet again. She knew that voice, even if she'd never seen him in reality. In her dreams she knew his name but forgot it even as she woke. He called out to her with advice and once even magic, she didn't know how but he was there when she needed him, even if they could only meet in dreams._

"Syaoran." She mumbled, starting to come awake. Madison's sharp ears caught the name and she wondered who it might be. Unbeknown to either of them they were about to face a far more immediate problem.

The fire started on the ground floor in an empty classroom. With no one to notice it was there it grew quickly, running along the floor like a river before climbing the curtains to the ceiling. In minutes the room was devoured. Smoke leaked out from the door hinges and the floor gap. Finally the pressure grew too much the door blew open sending the fire leaping out into the main corridor.

With more fuel to feed on it grew bigger and bigger, smoke billowed down the corridor in both directions. A student running from one class to the other almost ran directly into the smoke as she rounded a corner. She immediately smashed the glass and hit the fire alarm and then raced back the way she had come, shouting to alert everyone to the danger. Students streamed out of their classes in an orderly fashion at first, most people thought it was a drill. However upon seeing the flames so close and coming closer every second many of them panicked. The main exit was already blocked by the fire, the classroom it had started in was on the same corridor.

As the fire lapped at their heels the students trying to leave by the main exit turned and tried to go back the other way, the press of people behind them making it almost impossible. People started to panic and ran into computer rooms and other ground floor classrooms to try and get out the windows. The two other smaller exits kept a steady stream of people flowing but the fire spread rapidly and soon they too were in danger of being blocked by the smoke and flames.

Sakura and Madison were in their math class on the top floor of the building when the fire alarm went off. The class quickly grabbed what they could and headed for the already crowded stairwells which led to the exits. They were halfway down when the flow of people reversed and the crowd started to flee upwards away from the hungry flames below. Madison immediately realised what had happened and urged the teachers to take them to the roof. Other students took up the cry and the crowd surged up the stairs, taking the teachers with them. They got to the roof and started looking for ways to get down.

In the confusion Madison manoeuvred Sakura into a corner, "Can't you use Water to put the fire out?" she whispered.

Sakura nodded, "I was just waiting for a chance to get away from everyone to use my magic." She turned away from the crowd and took out the Star Key. "Make sure no one's looking at me ok?"

Madison nodded and moved so that she was between Sakura and the crowd, partly obscuring her from unwanted eyes. "Ok, go."

Sakura raised the key and chanted softly "Oh Key of Clow, power of Magic power of Light. Surrender the wand, the force ignite! Release!" The Key transformed into the staff and her magic circle disappeared from beneath her feet. Sakura carefully looked around, keeping the staff hidden and made sure no one had seen. Turning back she took out a card. "Mirror!" she called softly.

Mirror appeared quickly. Taking in the situation at a glance she transformed into another Sakura and then crouched down behind Madison. "I need you to be me while I put the fire out." Sakura told Mirror, "Help Madison keep everyone calm." Mirror nodded, "Ok. Good luck mistress."

"Thanks," Sakura took out another card. "Through!" She slid through the fence surrounding the roof and balanced precariously on the outside rim. "Illusion!" Her clothes flowed and changed into the pink and gold battle costume she'd worn to capture the Void Card with the addition of a pink mask to hide her face. Her hair was also longer and hung freely to add to the disguise. Finally she made herself look several years older than her actual age. No one would even think of her as Madison's friend Sakura now. "Fly!" She jumped off the roof and flew up and out to get a clearer view of the situation.

The whole bottom section of the building was on fire, windows spewing out black smoke. The flames were moving fast. Despite her mastery of the Fire Card Sakura was still very, very respectful of the power and danger even normal fire wielded, magic just added to the problem. Circling the building several times she carefully planned what to do before acting, she didn't want to make any mistakes with so many lives at stake.

As she circled the crowd that had gathered below spotted her and people on the roof also started to take notice. Trying to ignore the growing noise as people shouted and pointed Sakura took out another card. The first order of business was to get the students off the roof and out of danger. A small grin, tugged at the corners of her mouth, this should cause a stir. "Float!" The cries of amazement turned to shouts of fear and surprise on the roof as pink bubbles surrounded each and every student there, lifting them off into the air and bringing them safely down onto clear spaces in the evacuation area.

Once she was sure all of them were safe Sakura turned her mind back to the fire. She knew there might still be people inside. Task two would be their protection. "Shield!" The card spirit raced through the building, enclosing every person it found in a protective circle of magic. Maintaining so many separate shields was a big drain on her power but Sakura refused to leave even one person unprotected. It was too big a risk to hope that everyone would remain safe until she could get them out.

Inside the building all those trapped by the fire or smoke were amazed as white bubbles of light appeared around them, dispelling whatever flames and smoke were inside and then keeping the danger outside at bay.

Next Sakura summoned the Move Card. Patiently, one by one she moved all the trapped people outside and the injured ones to the car park where emergency services were starting to arrive. Once every person was safe and outside the danger zone, Sakura summoned her last two cards.

"Water! Rain!" Rain floated above Water, smiling and giggling as she poured liquid down onto her more powerful cousin, giving Water a power boost as she prepared for the challenge ahead. Water was not one of the most forgiving cards at the best of times and she was more than a little angry that her mistress was being put in this position by outside forces rather than choosing the time and place to reveal her powers. This would be a good way to vent her anger.

Water grinned and then hurled herself forward. Streaking down to the base of the building and then surrounding it she took no little satisfaction from the screams and shouts that heralded her appearance (stupid people troubling her and her mistress) before plunging in through windows, doors and any other entry point she could find. Steam replaced smoke as she unleashed all her fury on the fire.

Working her way up from the bottom floor she filled every last nook and cranny with her power, drowning the fire in her watery embrace before moving up to the next level. Water flowed into classroom, offices, bathrooms and lecture halls, extinguishing every tongue of flame that dared to show itself.

Thanks to Sakura's magic not a single computer or piece of furniture or stationery was damaged by Water's passage, there were no shorts or trapped bubbles anywhere and every electronic device that was not damaged by smoke or fire remained that way, such was Sakura's wish as Water's mistress. Within minutes the fire was extinguished.

As she hovered above the crowd Sakura began to think about how to make her escape and grimaced. With all the cell-phone cameras and video cameras trained on her it would be difficult to just fade into the background and replace Mirror with her real self.

"I suppose I'll have to give them a show," she muttered, "Madison's must be loving this." Even though the rest of her was exasperated with the mess she'd gotten herself into, a small part of her was excited –like an actor about to go on stage. "Alright, I'd best get it over with."

Madison, on the ground with the rest of the student body had had her video camera trained on Sakura since she took off from the roof. Capturing every moment of her friend's dramatic appearance and rescue activities she was thrilled to pieces. As Sakura floated above them Madison listened to the excited talk of the people around her and smiled to herself, this was going to make so many more opportunities to film Sakura in action! "It's about time too," She said to herself, "Sakura was going to get rusty if she didn't do anything soon." Giggling to herself she watched in excitement as Sakura made her exit. Her long association with Sakura and her non-theatrical nature made what Sakura did next very surprising and impressive.

An intensely bright light suddenly surrounded Sakura, illuminating her despite the brightness of the afternoon sun and drawing every eye that was not already looking in her direction. The light then faded around her body until only her wings were glowing, casting her face in shadow. With each flap of her wings silver edged feathers rained down on her captive audience, more and more appearing until it seemed the sky was full of feathers. Madison –still filming –grabbed a few and stuffed them into her bag to admire later.

As the rain of feathers fell Sakura raised her staff, which then disappeared and then curled up into a ball. Reminiscent of when Kero and Yue transformed her shining wings grew and then wrapped themselves around her. After several seconds the enshrouding wings opened again but there was nothing inside them. The crowd gasped and then gasped again as the wings dissolved into streamers of magic which curled and twisted in the air for a moment before fading away into nothing.

Several seconds passed as the crowd absorbed what had just happened and then suddenly someone near the middle whistled and started clapping. Everyone then burst into cheers and applause even though no one knew if the mysterious girl was still near enough to hear. It took several minutes for the clamour to die down and the police who had arrived halfway through the spectacle immediately started questioning students. Madison quietly slipped away with Mirror still disguised as Sakura and they quickly made their way back to Sakura and Madison's apartment. It was obvious that classes wouldn't be happening for the rest of the day.

Madison opened the door to the apartment and ushered Mirror in then locked the door behind them. Sakura jumped up from the couch where she'd nervously been waiting for them. "Did I do okay?" she blurted out. "I didn't overdo it or anything did I? I knew I wouldn't be able to switch with Mirror without somebody filming it so I thought I'd distract everyone with a big exit and –"

Madison held up her hands to stem the flood of nervous chatter. "You did great Sakura, just great, Mirror did fine and you saved everyone in the building. You. Did. Great." She made Sakura sit back down on the couch and went go make her a soothing cup of tea. While she was in the kitchen Mirror reassured Sakura again, that yes she had done a wonderful job, no she hadn't disappointed Madison and yes the Cards were happy to be used to help people and then reverted back to her card form.

"What am I going to do now Madison?" Sakura asked her friend when she came back in, "I'm a celebrity now, and they probably think I'm some sort of superhero. What if they expect me to fight crime all the time like in the movies? I'll never pass my courses!"

"Well the cat's out of the bag now, what we need is to do is try and keep things under control. First we need a way of finding out quickly where and when a crime or disaster or whatever happens. Then we need a system of dealing with it –when to act, when not to act etc."

Sakura groaned, "I know we didn't have any other choice but I'm wondering if I really should have put out that fire in such a spectacular manner." Madison patted her on the shoulder.

"Hey, you're not alone in this Sakura. Me, Kero, Yue and the cards are all right here with you. We can do this together, just relax and help me brainstorm. We need to get things organised before something _else_ happens."


	2. New Mission

**Heyla everyone I've made a few changes to chapter 2 and chapter 3, nothing major just some added info which is going to affect later chapters which I hadn't planned out when I started them. ****J**

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Two weeks later, hundreds of kilometres away a young man stirred in his sleep. Magic flowed in his dreams and a girl's face appeared in front of his, shadowed by a bright light behind her. Power flowed from the girl like a breaking wave and also from the staff she held in one hand. Magic. Clow Reed's Magic. His personal circle glowed behind her but then transformed into a completely different circle, cards appeared which he immediately recognised as being the ones created by Clow hundreds of years ago. The cards glowed with Clow's magic then suddenly expelled it, turning lifeless and dark, nothing more than pieces of card with painted designs on them.

The girl turned to the cards and held out her hands, the light behind her shining even more brightly so that all that could be seen of her was an outline. Magic gathered all around her, magic glowing not with Clow's light but with a light that seemed to sparkle like the stars in the night sky. The star-like power washed over the cards and they were transformed, glowing now with pink and silver tones rather than the red and gold they had once been. As she held out her hands to them she was illuminated by their glow and for an instant her face was revealed—

Syaoran Li woke up in his bed in Hong Kong and sighed. "That dream again." He'd been having these dreams for almost two years now. At least once a week they came unbidden to him, showing him things and people he'd never seen and events he'd never witnessed. He'd dreamed of the same girl over and over, seen her open and unseal the Clow Book, capture the cards and then transform them. In all that time he'd seen her face hundreds of times but every time he woke up his mind refused to recall the image or her name.

Syaoran knew that he was dreaming for a reason and that someone was also preventing him from fully recalling his dreams but for the life of him he couldn't figure out who or why. Sighing he turned over and went back to sleep, at least he only dreamt once a night, if he didn't he would have been a zombie by now. "Thank you so much for saddling me with your problems great ancestor." He muttered before going back to sleep.

Hundreds of years ago, before he died, the great sorcerer Clow Reed had sealed away the cards he'd created from a fusion of western and eastern magic, hiding them from the world until their new master should appear. For hundreds of years his descendants, the Li Clan, had searched the world to find them again and bring them back to their ancestral home.

Syaoran knew that as a powerful magic user his dreams held meaning, especially dreams such as the ones he'd been having for the past year. It was obvious that the Clow Cards had been discovered and were now moving about in the world once more. It was also clear that they had chosen a new a master. What the Li Clan wanted to know was who this master was and what they were capable of. If they were benevolent –as Syaoran's dreams led him to believe -then their mastery of the cards was to be celebrated, however if the cards had been forced to accept an evil master then action must be taken. It was to this end that for the past year branches of the Li Clan all over the world had desperately been searching for the whereabouts of the Clow Cards and their new master. It was only a week ago though, that any sort of headway had been made.

News had come from Japan that strange occurrences had been happening on and off for the past several years in a small town called Tomoeda. Even more interesting was the fact that recently a strange figure had begun to appear around the town and the smaller towns that surrounded it. This figure reportedly helped people in trouble, fought crime and had even helped save a festival once when the power went out by making glowing lights fall from the sky like snow. People called her the Card Mistress because of the beautiful, magical cards she used and the spirits inside them that aided her.

It all seemed a bit too coincidental to Syaoran. Nothing is heard for hundreds of years and then suddenly he starts having dreams, then news arrives from Japan that for over a year strange things had been happening in a fairly large town, which before now hadn't been reported. It all smelled very fishy and smacked of magical interference. Who's he didn't yet know but Syaoran was determined to find out. It was getting on his nerves. Despite his suspicions or perhaps because of them, it had taken the Clan Elders no time at all to convince Syaoran to travel to Tomoeda and find out what was really going on. Thus it was that today he was flying out to Japan in order to discover the truth behind the mystery of Tomoeda and its mysterious protector.

Syaoran stretched and yawned and looked at his clock, it was 7.00am so he had plenty of time to get ready for his 11 o'clock flight. By 9.00 he was at the airport and checking in, by 10.30 he was boarding his plane and getting comfortable in his first class seat. It would be a short flight to Japan but he wanted to relax as much as possible before throwing himself into the search for the master of the Clow Cards. It would no doubt be an interesting search.


	3. Meetings

**Okay readers. First of all my profoundest apologies for not updating this story for years upon years. I had this whole thing planned out and then I just lost my passion for writing. However I have my mojo back now and it's full speed ahead from here. So look forward to updates soon and again my deepest apologies for making everyone wait so long.**

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Chapter 3

Sakura woke to the sound of her alarm ringing and Madison shaking her shoulder.

"Come on, wake up sleepyhead," her friend said. "Remember its ball season right now and we need to be ready for the rush."

Groaning Sakura threw off her duvet and stumbled into the bathroom to wake herself up with a shower. When she got out ten minutes later feeling much more like herself, Madison was in the kitchen having breakfast. Sakura dressed, ate her share of breakfast and then prepared to leave for work.

She and Madison worked part time at a dress store on the main street of Tomoeda's shopping district, an offshoot of her mother's company that Madison joined when she decided to strike out into the fashion industry. Business was slow at first but Madison had slowly worked up a reputation and now pretty much everyone was coming to the shop. They did wedding dresses, ball dresses, cocktail dresses anything involving evening wear and Madison was just about to release her first official collection –hopefully in time for fashion week. It was hard juggling student life and a job but Sakura and Madison managed pretty well, it was a step down the road to achieving their dreams and they were determined not to fail.

Right now it was ball season and peak time for business so Sakura and Madison were kept hopping all day, helping customers, taking orders and making sure no one ran off with the merchandise. This was a bit easier for them than for most because Sakura had asked the Libra and Lock cards to help out a bit. Libra kept an eye on anyone coming in or going out and let Lock know if a particular person had dishonesty in their heart, then Lock kept an eye on them and simply locked the door on them if they tried to steal anything. The shop got a small reputation for unpredictable doors but it didn't seem to bother anyone who seriously wanted to shop and so losses were minimal at worst.

At the end of the day Sakura and Madison gratefully locked up and then headed home. It was some hours before their girl's night with Rita, Chelsea and Niki was due to start and they wanted to get everything ready before their friends came over. Madison had been with Sakura since before her discovery of the Clow Cards and had been there with her through each and every capture and subsequent transformation. As such she had no qualms about Sakura using them to help clean the apartment or watch the shop so when Sakura summoned Mirror and Bubble she calmly greeted Mirror who smiled at her and directed Bubble to cleaning the dishes and helping with the washing.

Aside from doing chores Sakura had, with Madison's help devised a way of using the cards to help her with her new occupation of crime fighting. It had taken a while to get everything organised power wise –she'd had to work out how to give the cards more autonomy than before but also keep them from causing too much trouble. Kero and Yue had helped with that and so far there hadn't been too many problems –a few instances where one of the cards tried to be overly helpful or went too far with a bit of mischief but nothing that would hurt anyone.

It certainly made living a double-life much easier.

Luckily, Tomoeda was a relatively peaceful town. Crime was low and the biggest issue she'd had to deal with so far was capturing a robber who'd stolen from a supermarket. Sakura was glad to help and especially glad that she was able to keep her identity a secret but also help people with her power. She knew the Cards had chosen her for a reason and it was a waste to simply keep the cards locked in the Book all the time when they could be used for so much good.

With Bubble and Mirror to help, cleaning the apartment took no time at all and soon Sakura and Madison were able to sit back on the couch, turn the TV on and wait for the other girls to arrive. When the doorbell finally rang Sakura leapt off the couch and invited in her three friends, laden with goodies to eat, movies to watch and gossip to pass on.

Together the five girls spent a relaxing yet invigorating evening just doing what girls do and spending quality time with people they'd known since primary school. To Sakura and Madison such moments were few and far between, with Sakura's magic and all the challenges that came with it, coupled with university and work there wasn't much time for girl's nights. Sakura treasured the time she got to spend with her friends, they were rare moments of peace in a hectic everyday life.

The next morning Madison was the first to wake up, yawning and stretching she padded into the kitchen in her slippers and started getting things ready for breakfast. Rika was next up and the others soon followed. Breakfast was a leisurely affair, each girl grabbing what she wanted from the pantry and tucking in. After showers, dress and make-up it was time to hit the shops.

Sakura drifted behind her friends, commenting on this top and that dress and even trying on a few herself but something was bothering her. Madison caught on right away that something was wrong and snatched the chance to talk to Sakura when the other girls were changing.

"Alright, what's wrong?" she asked. "And I'm not falling for your 'it's nothing' line."

Sakura smiled weakly "I'm not really sure Madison, I just keep getting the feeling that I sense someone watching me. Every so often I feel this presence for a few seconds but then it vanishes and it keeps moving. It kinda reminds me of Clow Reed too somehow."

"Is it dangerous do you think? Should we call and ask Eli? He's coming to visit us tomorrow anyway."

Sakura shook her head, "Not yet, I don't think it's dangerous, I get the feeling it's looking for something. Let's wait until the girls leave."

Madison though for a minute, "Ok. If it's something important you'll find out soon enough. Besides this your day off, just chill and hang out with your friends. Okay?"

"Okay." Sakura smiled, this one happier and less forced. "Then I want to try on that pink top I saw."

Time flew by and the girls had lunch. Sakura tried to forget about the strange presence but found it more and more difficult as the day wore on. It's distance and location kept changing each time she sensed it, sometimes nearer sometimes further off. Finally as she and Madison said goodbye to the other girls and headed back to their apartment it reached the point where she'd had enough.

"Madison I'm going to see if I can find whoever or whatever it is that I'm sensing, it's driving me nuts."

"Okay, Sakura but let's be careful and not rush into anything okay?"

"I know. Now let's go." She turned around and started walking quickly in the direction of the last place she'd sensed the presence. As they got nearer it became apparent that it was coming from a large house near the edge of town.

"This kinda reminds me of Eli's house." Madison said as they walked around it, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

"I know. It has the same feel." Sakura replied.

They finished their examination from the outside but found nothing unusual. Jumping the fence with Jump and using Silent to muffle any noise they crept through a small stand of trees that lined the driveway, quietly making their way towards the back of the house and through the garden towards where Sakura was sensing the presence. As they peeked round a large tree and saw a person standing there both Sakura and Madison froze.

He was young looking, no older than them and he was holding a strange looking board in his hand that glowed with power.

"I don't recognise him." Madison whispered. "Do you Sakura?" She looked over at her friend who was standing stock still, completely frozen.

"It's him." She whispered in shock. "He's the guy I've been dreaming of. Madison he's the one who helped me all those times!"

"What?"

Sakura's mind flew back in time to the first time she'd dreamed of the guy with messy brown hair. It had been right after she'd captured the Dream Card. He'd been standing in the middle of an empty room practicing some sort of martial arts and she'd admired his skill. Then he'd started mixing magic with his moves, attacking and defending himself from an invisible opponent using an amazing array of magical attacks and shields. He was just finishing when the dream pulled her away.

After that she dreamed of him often, seeing him in his everyday life as an invisible observer. His life was so different from hers, he seemed to be part of a large clan who all had magical powers. From conversations she gathered he was going to be its next head and so had a lot of responsibility. It was fascinating seeing how he dealt with people and problems and Sakura sometimes wished she had his diplomacy and tact. Those things were not her strong point.

As a silent observer it was hard for Sakura not to try and take part in some small way in her observees life so sometimes she started talking to him even though she knew he couldn't hear. If he was having a problem, she'd tell him how she would solve it or tell him jokes if he looked like he was having a bad day. She couldn't help it, she felt a connection with him and it helped to talk, even if it was only a one-sided conversation.

Then he started appearing to her outside her dreams.

Sakura knew she wasn't going mad. She'd questioned Dream about it all but the poor Card could only reply that somehow she knew Sakura needed to see and get to know him and that it was vital to her future. As such, Sakura accepted his phantom presence in her life and actually welcomed it. Time and again when she was in a tight spot he gave her advice and direction, helping her capture and then transform the Cards until things finally came to a head when Eli forced her to transform the last two cards Light and Dark. She'd almost failed, but just as she was giving up and the light of transformation was falling back from the half-way point she felt his presence next her.

"Don't give up!" he'd urged her and the next thing she knew, he'd placed phantom hands over her own and she'd actually felt real magical power flowing into her from him. With his magic boosting her own she'd been able to transform Light and Dark and break Eli's spell. He disappeared immediately after that but Sakura knew she couldn't have done it without him and was grateful to him and to Dream for somehow making it all happen.

And now here he was, standing here in front of her. His magical signature hanging in the air like a neon sign, telling her it was him and making her wonder why she hadn't recognised it from the start.

Madison peered at him excitedly. "Oh we have got to go say hi now!" she whispered.

"This is your chance to finally meet him for real!"

"But what will I say?" Sakura asked nervously. "I can't just walk up and say 'Hi I'm the girl who's been dreaming about you for the past two years' he'll think I'm crazy!"

"No he won't, I bet he's come here looking for you precisely because he's been dreaming of you and you of him. Oh it's so romantic!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "If that's the case then why didn't he come sooner?" she asked. "He knows I'm the new master of the Cards and it couldn't be too hard to figure out where I am, think of all the weird stuff that's been happening all over town the past two years. I would think that would paint a big target saying 'here's the new Card Master' right?"

"Well why don't you ask him that when you meet him." Madison replied. "Now come on." She herded Sakura out in front of her, giving her a push before falling back to a better filming position behind her."

Sakura looked back doubtfully. "Go on!" Madison hissed. Sakura sighed, straightened her back and walked around the corner of the building towards her mysterious dream guy.

Syaoran was tired. He'd arrived in Japan in the early afternoon and travelled by bus to Tomoeda. Almost before he got there he started sensing the Clow Cards. Clow Reeds magic still hung faintly in the air which was strange but it was eclipsed by another aura, a sparkling presence that covered the city like a benevolent cloud. He sighed, why couldn't his ancestor have just given the cards to the Li Clan and saved him all this trouble? "Speaking of which I probably should have called him before I left the airport" he said to himself, Clow Reeds reincarnation just happened to be Li's best friend and partner in business. Syaoran had insisted he take part in the mission to find his magical heir. "Oh well, I'll call him as soon as I get to the hotel."

After checking in and making his call –Eriol was already in town and making some preparations in case things went south -Syaoran had spent the rest of the afternoon tracking down the presence and trying to figure out if it really was coming from the girl he dreamed about. After several hours of searching he admitted that she -if it really was her he was sensing -was moving around too much and too fast for normal methods of searching and resorted to his lazenboard. He found an old currently empty house for some privacy and found a nice secluded place in the garden to work his magic. Finishing the activation words he watched a beam of light shoot from the board and turned in its direction.

"Woah!"

The beam of light ended squarely in the chest of a familiar young woman about a hundred metres to his right. She was holding a staff and as he looked on brought it up to block the beam of light, already calling forth magic that any member of the Li clan would recognise.

"Mirror!" she cried. And a girl dressed in pale green robes with a mirror in her hands appeared in front of her, reflecting the beam from the lazenboard back at him.

As she stared at him from behind the Mirror spirit Syaoran stood frozen to the spot, flabbergasted at this surprising and yet half-expected turn of events.

As the man just stood and stared at her, making no other moves Sakura examined him carefully. He carried nothing in his hands but the strange board and he hadn't flinched when she reflected its light back at him. He was also definitely the one she dreamed about at night.

"Who are you and what do you want?" she finally called out to him.

At her words he seemed to shake himself out of his daze. He lowered the board and the light from it disappeared. Bowing he said "My name is Syaoran Li and I am sorry if I surprised you. I'm afraid you rather startled me I didn't expect to find you so soon." He glanced at his lazenboard "or so close."

"Oh ah, well sorry about that." Sakura smiled tentatively at him "So, why are you looking for me?"

Syaoran smiled back, "Well, because I suspected that the new Master of the Clow Cards was in this town and you have just proven with your use of the Mirror Card that you are that new Master, or Mistress as the case turns out to be of the cards Clow Reed created and then hid from the world before he died. We of the Li Clan would like to give you our congratulations and extend an invitation to you to come to Hong Kong and visit us who are Clow Reeds descendants."

"Are you after the cards? They're not Clow's anymore I changed them into Star Cards. They use my magic now so don't think you can take them back if that's what you're after." He may have been her dream boy but Sakura was not going to just hand over her precious friends if that was what he was expecting.

Syaoran held up his hands, "No, no we wouldn't take them from you." _Now you've gone and done something like that to them I don't know if we could_ he privately added. "We just want to greet the new Mast –Mistress of the Cards and offer you our assistance if it is needed."

Sakura frowned and called out to the card spirits she knew were listening. "Libra is he telling the truth?" Voice appeared next to her. "Yes he is," she said with Madison's voice "He means you no harm." and then disappeared. Sakura lowered her staff and looked at Mirror. "Alright then. Thanks for your help Mirror. I think we're okay now."

Mirror nodded and smiled before dissolving into her card and floating back to her mistress' hand. Turning to him Sakura bowed formally "Sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Sakura Avalon. It's nice to meet you."

Madison, who was peeping out from behind her tree, camera in hand judged the situation safe enough to permit her presence and emerged from her hiding place to come and stand a little ways off from the two others. Her camera was still rolling.

Syaoran watched this with interest. He noted the freedom the cards enjoyed and wondered what other changes the new Mistress had made. "I'm guessing she is a friend of yours?" he said out loud to Sakura even though he knew exactly who she was thanks to the dreams he was now remembering with startling clarity.

Her cheeks a little pink Sakura nodded. "This is Madison," she said, "she's been with me from my first card capture and everything since."

"I see. Well it's an honour to meet you Madison." He bowed in her direction. "And do you always film everything your friends do like this?

"Most of the time. But Sakura's my favourite subject. I've got some amazing footage from her over the years. Would you like to come over to our house for some tea?"

"Madison!" Sakura couldn't believe her friend. "We can't just invite him to our house. We barely know him."

"Really?" Madison asked innocently before deliberately mentioning the subject the other two had been stepping around quite carefully. "Haven't you been dreaming about each other for the last two years?" She smiled wickedly "I would think you'd know each other quite well after all this time."

Sakura blushed a brilliant crimson and Syaoran looked anywhere but at the two of them. Madison continued mercilessly. "Come on you two, stop dancing around the subject. You've both been dreaming about each other thanks to Sakura's Dream Card and you've both helped each other on numerous occasions. I think that makes you friends so stop being so formal and awkward and lets all get to know each other in the real world."

Syaoran finally nodded and looked Sakura squarely in the eye. "So it really was you I was dreaming about all those times?" he asked.

Sakura nodded, "I don't know why but Dream said it was really important that we get to know each other but it couldn't tell me why. I guess this was the only way the cards thought of to allow that given that we were living in separate countries."

Syaoran nodded "Well thanks for your help and advice all those times." He said, "You helped out of a few tight spots.  
"You mean you heard me?" Sakura blurted out. "But you never gave any hint that you did, I thought it was only me that heard you!"

Syaoran ran his fingers through his hair in a nervous gesture, "Well I couldn't exactly start talking to someone who isn't there in front of other people and when I was alone it was nice to hear your voice, soothing like, it helped me think. I didn't know if you would disappear if I let you know I could hear you."

Sakura nodded in understanding. "well, I have some things to thank you for as well, for all those times I was in a pinch and you helped me and especially for your help with transforming Light and Dark when Eli cast a spell on Tomoeda."

Syaoran waved off his contribution, "I didn't do anything really," he said, "I just told you things you would have thought of yourself eventually. As for this Eli, his spell needed to be broken and I wanted to help."

"Nevertheless, thank you." Sakura said and then grinned. "Wow that was less awkward than I thought it would be. Would you like to come over to our house for tea? I've a ton of questions to ask."

Syaoran smiled too, "I'd love to. And I have some questions of my own."

Madison clapped her hands, startling the other two who had almost forgotten she was there. "Great, I'll buy a cake on the way home."

Several countries away an old man dressed in a long black robe with a red symbol on the front smiled to himself. He'd found her and with _him_ too. Now his plans could finally be completed.


End file.
